Enough
by Jaiaelle
Summary: Rebecca-centric one shot. Rebecca thinks about high school, ponders love lost, finds freedom in apologies and makes a friend.


**I wrote this a long time ago...back when the show was still airing. It's my "Rebecca Redemption"piece. Please read and review!**

Rebecca Browning liked to think that life changed after high school, that people changed, that real life wasn't a reflection of the high school society.

She had a feeling, though, that her assumptions, or hopes actually, were wrong.

She had a feeling that Zoey would always be perfect and desirable. That Lola would always be beautiful and graceful. That Logan would always use his money to get his way. That Michael would always be the loveable goofball, joking about everything.

And that, she, Rebecca, would always be the girl who wasn't desirable or beautiful or rich or funny _enough_.

Sometimes all the profound thoughts left her with a headache.

Thursdays, in Rebecca's world, were the best days, because on Thursdays she could put away those profound thoughts for a little while. The Geology Club met every Thursday, in room G-34. Rebecca didn't exactly fit in with the people who attended the meetings and she didn't care all that much about rocks, but once a month the Geology Club took a field trip off campus. Rebecca lived for the trips simply because it was a chance to get off campus. Getting off campus for a day or weekend meant getting away from him. The him that every girl in high school has - he that was loved and then lost. Of course, Rebecca could only blame herself for losing him and pushing him so far away that he would never return.

Sighing, Rebecca pushed open the door of G-34 to enter her place of solitude. No more thoughts of Chase, she chided herself.

Inside, the members of the club stood around, discussing rocks. Not really interested in conversing with anyone else, Rebecca sat down in the chair that was hers, the one she sat in every Thursday.

"Rebecca," said a short, shy girl, sitting next to Rebecca.

Every Thursday Hope took the same seat, the one next to Rebecca. They never spoke but a brief greeting before the meeting began. This Thursday, however, Rebecca stopped short of speaking Hope's name in a return greeting. She stopped short because she noticed the look in Hope's pale blue eyes. It was a look she had often seen while looking at herself in the mirror. That look of hurt.

"Who is it?" Rebecca blurted out, for once not thinking before speaking.

"Who is...who?" Hope feigned confusion but Rebecca knew all too well that the pain in the other girl's eyes could only be caused by a who.

"The person _who_ hurt you."

Hope's eyes darted to her rough, untrimmed nails, which lay folded on the table in front of her. "Am I that obvious?"

"To one who has been hurt, yes." Rebecca tried to sound brave but her voice only came out wavering, sad.

Hope lifted her eyes to meet Rebecca's. "Oh." The girl paused a moment before continuing. "There's this guy...I like him. But...he has a...girlfriend." Hope whispered the last word, as if this guy's girlfriend, whoever she was, might jump from out behind a desk, over hearing Hope's confession.

"Ah. The pain of the other woman." Rebecca nodded knowingly. "I've been there."

"You...you have?" Hope's bottom lip trembled. "So, how do you...get over it?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

Before Hope could respond, Mr. Treble entered the room and called the Geology Club to order.

An hour later, one hour free thoughts of Chase Matthews, Rebecca exited room G-34, intent on beginning a major study session for the history test she had the next day. She hadn't gotten far when a hand, a hand that needed a bit more lotion, stopped her.

It was Hope. "I was wondering if, maybe, you might want to eat dinner with me?"

Hope looked so hopeful that Rebecca couldn't turn her down.

* * *

The pathetic dinner of an unidentifiable brown meat covered in some sort of thick gravy accompanied by frozen peas was enough to make Rebecca's stomach turn. She poked at the mass, almost expecting it to jump, startled, off of her plate and run away. In barely concealed horror, she watched as Hope devoured the meat on her plate.

"So, this guy..." Rebecca prompted, feeling as if, for once in her life, she might have a person in whom she could confide.

"Oh, um." Hope swallowed her current mouthful of mystery meat before deblushing deeply and saying, "You can't tell anyone."

"Who am I gonna tell?" Rebecca asked, shifting one shoulder up.

"Okay," Hope chittered, nervously. "It's...Mark."

"Del Figgalo?" Rebecca burst out, holding back her giggles. "That heavy, funny looking guy in Geology Club?"

"He is not funny looking!" Hope cried, eyes flaming in indignation over her love's physical attributes being laughed at. "I think he's beautiful!"

'Well,' thought Rebecca. 'The heart sees what the eyes cannot I guess.' "Sorry. He's just not someone I would be attracted to."

Huffing, Hope stabbed another piece of meat, shoving it into her mouth, while flipping her long, blonde hair off her shoulder with the other hand. "Yeah, I know that most girls wouldn't find him attractive. I find his love of rocks and dead pan facial expressions endearing though."

"But he has a Quinn."

"Yes." Hope sighed, chewing her food loudly.

Rebecca, ignoring Hope's lack of manners, daintily forked a pea, placing it in her mouth. She would definitely have to hit up Sushi Rox later. After the pea was down her throat, Rebecca spoke. "Well, my Chase has a Zoey."

Flabbergasted at Rebecca's proclamation, Hope just stared, mouth agape. Thankfully, there was no food inside. "You like Chase? Matthews?" Rebecca nodded. "But he's not dating Zoey."

"No, he's not. But he is in love with her. Which I realized when we were dating. Which is why I made him choose. Which is why he chose Zoey. Which is why I blackmailed Zoey at the end of last year. Which is why all of her and his friends hate me. Which is why I begged my mom not to make me come back here this year." Rebecca leaned back, trying to belie her fear over Hope's reaction. She, after all, had never told anyone about her continued feelings for Chase.

"Wow." Hope leaned back as well, taking in the information. "So, we're kind of in the same boat then?"

"I would say we are."

It was the start of a strange friendship. Icy Rebecca and uncouth Hope. At least, what's the high school world saw. Rebecca and Hope, however, each found a friend who understood what no one else could. And, after having no friends for such a long time, each found new happiness. Yet, their hearts still ached over their longed after loves.

* * *

Hope's time seemed to come at the announced break up of her Mark and his Quinn.

Rebecca was in her room, painting her nails a dark red, when Hope charged in, grey shirt flapping a little. Her blue eyes darted around, making sure none of Rebecca's roommates were around, before collapsing on Rebecca's bottom bunk.

"Quinn and Mark broke up!" Hope whispered, as if afraid it might not be true.

"Really?" Rebecca arched one perfect eyebrow while applying another coat of red on her index finger. "So, are you going to go get your man?"

Hope's hopeful face faltered a moment before she said, "I can't just...I mean, they just broke up. Doesn't he need mourning time or something?"

"Why did they break up?"

"Well...Firewire told me that Quinn fell and Logan caught her with his lips."

Rebecca stopped in mid coat. "Firewire said..." She shook her head. "Firewire is such an idiot. But, even though I'm sure that's not exactly what happened, we can trust that he wouldn't make something like that up." The nail painting continued. "So Logan and Quinn, huh? Never saw that coming."

"Yeah, that Quinn is such a skank. How could she choose Logan over precious Mark?"

Choosing not to reply, Rebecca stretched her fingers out, admiring her work. "So, if he is the heart broken one, that means you have ample opportunity to move in and comfort him."

"Really? And that's okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be? You like him. You sincerely want him to feel better. Let him know that you care. Then, maybe he'll care back."

Hope's eyes shone. "Oh...it would be like a dream come true."

* * *

Only a few days later and Hope's eyes were shining again, but this time with tears. "Firewire got it all wrong," she gasped, head on Rebecca's shoulder. Rebecca rubbed small circles in her friend's back, remembering all the tears she had cried over Chase late at night, when she was sure her roommates were in deep slumber. "Mark broke up with Quinn because he needed some time to think about things, whatever that means. Logan kissed Quinn while comforting her. Neither of them meant for it to happen, I guess." Hope took a deep breath before going on. "Mark saw the kiss and told Quinn it was for sure over and then he found his own comfort with Stacey Dillsen. And now there are two new couples at PCA but I'm still...still...all alone!" Hope burst into a fresh batch of tears at the last word.

"I'm alone too Hope."

Sniffling, Hope pulled her head off of Rebecca's shoulder. "Yeah. We're alone together."

When their eyes met, Rebecca felt like crying herself but for the sake of her friend, kept it in.

That night, for the first time in months, Rebecca, after her roommates fell asleep, cried until her pillow was soaked.

* * *

It was Thursday, Rebecca's favorite day of the week. Although, because of Hope, Rebecca was growing to become rather fond of the other days too. She was humming, almost skipping, on the way to Geology Club, when the unexpected happened.

She bumped into someone. But not just any someone. A very particular someone.

"Chase," she said, feeling as if someone had sucked all the air out of her lungs.

"Rebecca," he responded, lips taut.

He was about to move around her but her hand shot out, on it's own accord, and stopped him.

"I never said sorry." The words tumbled out of her mouth, not sounding as if she had rehearsed them a thousand times, which she had. "About what I did to Zoey. You know, with the balloon." Her eyes found a spot on the ground on which to focus and she waited for him to respond. After a minute of silence, she raised her eyes to meet his. The look of confusion and tenderness in his eyes surprised her.

"You mean that." It was a statement, not a question, and she was relieved he believed her.

"I do. Could you tell her? Could you tell Zoey?"

Chase swallowed, still in shock. "Um, sure. But..."

"I know. She probably won't believe it." Rebecca offered him a half hearted smile. "Tell her anyway."

"Okay." Chase sent her one of his famous lopsided grins, that just melted her heart, before heading off.

Heart pounding, Rebecca decided not to go to Geology Club. Instead, she laid in her empty dorm room, with the lights off, crying. Hope found her there, and, without asking what was wrong, pulled Rebecca into a hug. For the millionth time, Rebecca was grateful to finally have a friend.

* * *

A week passed without incident. Rebecca concluded that Zoey had not accepted or believed the apology that Rebecca had relayed through Chase. Thinking further upon the matter, she decided that Chase had probably not even told Zoey.

Friday, however, proved Rebecca Browning wrong.

"Rebecca" said Zoey, hand on hip, almost sneering, towering over Rebecca as she sat picking at the salad in front of her. Trying not to freak out, Rebecca let her gaze sweep the courtyard, scanning for Hope. She saw her friend across the quad, eyes wide with fear for Rebecca.

"Hi Zoey," said Rebecca timidly, wondering if Hope would venture over. Obviously not, because the in the next instant she had vanished from the edge of the courtyard. "What's up?"

Zoey sat, brown eyes narrowed. "So you told Chase to tell me that you said you were sorry?"

If Rebecca hadn't been so terrified, she would've laughed at the construction of Zoey's sentence. "I did."

"What kind of game are you playing this time?"

Rebecca tried to relax a little, tried to show Zoey that she wasn't hiding anything. "No game," she said, splaying her hands in front in a show of baring all.

"Sure," Zoey snorted. "You're lying to me." She tossed her head, hair swishing in Rebecca's face.

"I'm not. You don't have to believe me. I truly am sorry." Rebecca took a deep breath before being honest with the girl she had once hated. "I know the way that I acted was inexcusable and just so...so high school. I was the conniving girl that everyone hates. But that girl, she's not who I want to be. I don't want to be stuck in high school. I want to grow up. So that's what I decided to do. I should've apologized a long time ago Zoey. But I was so scared. Bumping into Chase the other day, though, prompted me to do what I needed to." She met Zoey's eyes. "So, believe it or not, I am being sincere."

It was the longest moment of Rebecca's life and she had to question why she cared so much what Zoey Brooks, of all people, had to say. The answer, of course, was Chase. For Zoey, in his eyes was everything, and what she said would matter to him. And what _he_ thought mattered to Rebecca.

"Okay." It seemed to be all she had to say, along with a sweet smile. "I can't believe I'm saying it, but okay. I do believe you Rebecca."

Relief flooded Rebecca's whole body and she felt the cares of the last few months drain away. "Thanks Zoey."

"Well." Zoey stood up. "I should go. Chase is waiting for me."

"Hey Zoey." Zoey stopped, turned toward Rebecca, the sun behind her, causing a yellow glow to frame her being. In that instance, Rebecca saw Zoey the way that Chase saw her all the time. "Maybe we can be friends."

"Yeah, maybe."

* * *

"Phenomenal," Hope kept repeating, as she spun around in the computer chair in Rebecca's room. "You and Zoey Brooks, 'maybe friends'." She hooted. "What's next? Quinn and I as 'almost bosom buddies'. Or Stacey and I?"

Rebecca frowned, staring down at her math homework, trying to figure out the puzzle that was Geometry while talking to her friend. "You are already friends with Stacey."

"Not friends. She's just one of the only people who will talk to me. But I hate her."

"You'll get over it," laughed Rebecca.

"How did you?" Hope stopped the chair and faced her friend, tilting her head to one side. "How is that you can want to be friends with Zoey even though you know Chase is in love with her?"

"I guess..." Rebecca paused, thinking, placing her pencil down. "I guess I just came to realize that hating Zoey took up too much of my energy. Plus, it made me into this person that I didn't want to be. I always hated high school, you know? But then I got sucked into this very high school world and it was just so dumb." Rebecca shrugged. "I chose not to hate Zoey and it made me feel free. Her accepting my apology today solidified that freedom."

Hope's lips shifted downward as she pondered Rebecca's words. "I guess I shouldn't hate Stacey. I don't want to be, you know, so totally high school." The last words were spoken in a high pitched valley girl-like accent that caused both girls to collapse in a fit of giggles. After a few minutes, the giggles subsided.

"I'm glad we're friends Hope," Rebecca said, serious again. "Before that day in Geology Club, I wondered if I would ever have a friend in high school. You have proved that I can...I do."

Hope beamed at her friend. "Yeah, you've proved that for me too."

The serious moment quickly evaporated as the Hope erupted into giggles followed shortly by Rebecca.

It was those moments, where friends caught each other's giggles, that really made high school high school. Rebecca was pleased that high school was not what she had once written it off to be. She was glad that she didn't have be desirable, beautiful, rich or funny, but that all she had to be was Rebecca and that was enough.


End file.
